I had this at the state fair yesterday and thought it would be really interesting to see what the rest of this community thought of this. For those of you not aware of the buzz, Lift Bridge brewery out of Stillwater, Minnesota, created a special beer released only at the Minnesota State Fair. The beer was inspired by the iconic mini-donut and is served in a glass rimmed with cinnamon sugar.
Without going into all of the details, I thought it a brilliant piece of brewing. It’s certainly not the kind of beer you’d like to drink a six pack of, but the state fair is a place for gastronomic indulgence and this fits that requirement perfectly.
I live up North in Grand Rapids and that is all I have been hearing about, but sadly I won’t be there this year. I really want to try the dang thing so hopefully they will have it next time.
The wait to purchase the beer was crazy. People began to line up 45 minutes before the keg was tapped. I heard that some waited longer. I didn’t have the patience and it was 98F. Maybe next year.
I opened this post on the first day of the fair when, by good fortune apparently, I had a couple glasses of Lift Bridge’s Mini Donut. I didn’t know how fortunate I was at the time. It wasn’t as sickly sweet as one would imagine. I wish I could give more detailed tasting notes, but I wanted to see what other’s thought. It finished fairly dry. The malt did most of the dough of the donut work. There was a sweet caramel note to it that really made the whole beer, but that sweetness faded with the nice dry finish. Marketing genius on this one. Great idea + short supply + positive buzz = great pr for Lift Bridge. All things considered, it is definitely a “why didn’t I think of this?” beer. I look forward to making it a part of my fair routine. Hopefully it won’t go the way of the nacho mama dog Axel’s once offered.
I prefer to EAT my donuts !